Whitfield's Restaurant and Bar, Nashville

The gleeful sounds of tickled ivories permeates Whitfield's Restaurant, when a piano player regales diners with masterful tunes. Other times, the live music—which takes place every night—includes a jazz band, a violin player, and more. Stepping around the curved, tile-fronted bar, the wait staff deliver dishes of seafood and steaks to diners perched in crimson booths beneath the glow of amber pendant lights. Led by owner William Dewayne Johnson and head chef Matthew Smith, the kitchen sears scallops and salmon with aplomb. Diners can choose to eat alfresco under the guard of bright-red awnings and stars blinking their choices from the menu in Morse code.